Picked up this drum recently. Crazy pitting and rust but the price was right! Trying to decide what to do with it. Funny thing is when I found my 402 60's Supra it was in this condition also! At least they match right? The lugs and the rims are actually not that bad of condition. I think they will clean up nice.
What should I do to clean up the shell though? Ideas? Recommendations?
Felt good to find some drums again! Perfect timing because my semester just finished last week!
i think i would strip that shell by sanding it( lots of work)or have it stripped professionally. maybe some new tension rods and you'd have a nice looking snare drum. bet it still sounds great!
mike
Curious... pre-serial, crimped beds, a baseball bat tone control that dates it to 63', but it shows bad pitting...???
I'm going out on a limb here... I'll bet that drums is a brass shell (underneath that bubbled chrome layer,) with chemically damaged chrome. (?) By all rights, that drum 'should be' made of brass. Maybe somebody used a caustic cleaner on it, something harsh. Again, who knows. But my money says that's a brass shell under there.
How heavy is that drum? If it weighs in at 9 lbs. or over, it's brass. I would be very surprised to see a pitted Ludalloy supra with crimped beds and a pre-serial badge. That may be a gem under there. Check. For your sake, I'm hoping I'm right.
John
you may be right john. but, there are some pre serial,red felt muffler ludalloys out there. i know a dfo forum member that has one. shouldnt the inside of the bearing edge roll over towards the inside of the drum?
mike
> shouldnt the inside of the bearing edge roll over towards the inside of the drum?
Yes... but what has me thinking brass is the crimped snare beds. Look under the P-83. The crimp shows clearly. (As far as I know,) only the brass shells were crimped that way. It's the crimped beds that started me thinking that the bubbling is a sign of chemically damaged chrome plating. Who knows, maybe the shell was cleaned with something industrial that damaged the chrome coating. You have to admit the bubbling of the chrome is unusual. Not your run of the mill pitting. Just venturing a guess is all, mostly based on the presence of the crimped beds.
I hope the guy is holding a Super. If so, it'd be nice to strip off the chrome exposing bare brass and have a shop put a professional polish on it. Brass shell with chrome plated brass Imperials would look killer.
I'm hoping I'm right.
John
Thanks for all the good info. Ill shoot some more pics later of inside the shell.
john
i left out the crimped bed in description,the most important part. there are some crimped bed,red felt,pre serial models that are ludalloy. not many, but have seen a few.
mike
I'm also in the school of thought that it is an early Ludalloy shell. I actually have a '63 pre-serial, red felt Acrolite that has crimped snare beds! I guess a few of them snuck out of the factory that way...
EC...I would take this one to a chrome shop and have it stripped and then polished (at least the outside). I took a 70's Acro shell to get professionally polished and it turned out great! It's a great sounding drum, nonetheless.
> pre serial models that are ludalloy. not many, but have seen a few.
That's good enough for me, Mike. I just never ran into one. Must be a very
-early- Supraphonic.
El is correct. If you strip the chrome and polish the aluminum, no one will be able to tell there is no chrome there. Polished aluminum really shines. The photo below is of a badly pitted supra that I had stripped and polished. You can see that it looks like highly reflective chrome. Aluminum can really shine!
John
that turned out beautiful john. i actually like polished aluminum or nickel more than i do chrome. has a deep shine to it.
mike
